PG&E Power Shutoff Impacts 929 Contra Costa Customers

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Pacific Gas and Electric Company shut off power to 929 customers in Contra Costa County Wednesday night in parts of Walnut Creek, Orinda, and the unincorporated county.

In addition to customers in small pockets of the East Bay near Mt. Diablo and a pocket of the Oakland Hills east of Piedmont (generally between highway 24 and Upper San Leandro Reservoir); the public safety outage is impacting customers in: the North Bay mountains near Mount St. Helena; the Northern Sierra Nevada foothills; the mid and higher elevations in the Sierra generally north of Yosemite; the elevated terrain east of Milpitas around the Calaveras Reservoir; and portions of the Santa Cruz and Big Sur mountains.

Specifically, customers in portions of the following counties were being notified: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba.

A small number of customers in two tribal communities are also affected.

"Customer notifications—via text, email and automated phone call—began late Monday afternoon, approximately two days prior to the potential shutoff," PG&E said. "Customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline Program who do not verify that they have received these important safety communications will be individually visited by a PG&E employee with a knock on their door when possible. A primary focus will be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment."

Impacted Counties

The number of customers impacted by the shutoff represents about 1 percent of the 5.4 million customers within PG&E’s service territory.

In the Bay Area, about 22,109 customers — 05. percent — in seven counties are impacted.

• Alameda County: 5,405 customers, 214 Medical Baseline customers
• Amador County: 57 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 11,315 customers, 982 Medical Baseline customers
• Calaveras County: 262 customers, 17 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 929 customers, 61 Medical Baseline customers
• El Dorado County: 1,654 customers, 73 Medical Baseline customers
• Humboldt County: 187 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
• Lake County: 82 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers
• Monterey County: 1,084 customers, 20 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 9,230 customers, 315 Medical Baseline customers
• Nevada County: 224 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
• Placer County: 389 customers, 13 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 1,855 customers, 103 Medical Baseline customers
• San Mateo County: 1,683 customers, 56 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Clara County: 2,210 customers, 103 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Cruz County: 6,024 customers, 406 Medical Baseline customers
• Shasta County: 4,697 customers, 396 Medical Baseline customers
• Sierra County: 1,052 customers, 24 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 871 customers, 66 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 1,781 customers, 65 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 1,230 customers, 58 Medical Baseline customers
• Trinity County: 178 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Yuba County: 1,841 customers, 141 Medical Baseline customers
• Total: 54,252 customers, 3,135 Medical Baseline customers

Power will be restored once the red flag warning wind event subsides and PG&E crews are able to inspect equipment for any damages.

The National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area issued a red flag warning for the North Bay valleys and mountains, East Bay valleys and hills, and the Santa Cruz mountains from 5 a.m. Wednesday through 11 a.m. Friday.

"Winds will steadily increase over the highest peaks and ridges to 15 to 30 mph, with gusts generally from 35-45, with maximum gusts up to 55 mph possible at the highest peaks," the weather service said. "Valley winds are expected to be out of the north-northeast from 10-20 mph with gusts around 30 mph. These offshore winds will provide critical fire conditions with dry humidity values through the event, and even drier conditions overnight with poor humidity recovery expected due to the lack of marine layer."

Community Resource Centers

For those impacted by the shutoff, PG&E has opened community resource centers giving customers access to restrooms and hand-washing stations; medical-equipment charging; Wi-Fi; bottled water; and non-perishable snacks.

Requirements to guard against the spread of the coronavirus at the CRCs would include facial coverings and maintaining a physical distance of at least 6 feet from those who are not part of the same household. PG&E will administer temperature checks prior to allowing customers to enter any of the indoor CRCs

In addition to using existing indoor facilities, PG&E is planning to open CRCs at outdoor, open-air sites in some locations and use large commercial vans as CRCs in other locations.